Surprising Predators Are NHL's Hottest Team

A Nashville Predators team that began the year with just two wins in seven games is now the hottest club in the National Hockey League.

The Preds saw to that Wednesday in Anaheim, when they defeated the Ducks 4-2 and recorded their sixth consecutive victory, marking the NHL’s longest active winning streak. In climbing into second place in the Central Division — five points behind Minnesota — Nashville (10-4-5) also cooled off an Anaheim team that had won five straight heading into Wednesday’s contest.

“For our group, it was a gutsy win,” said Predators coach Andrew Brunette, whose team had beaten Los Angeles one night earlier. “It wasn’t pretty, but ... we’ve sort of been built for [back-to-back games] all season. We’ve been through a bunch of these, and we just stacked another one on tonight.”

The win over Anaheim revealed a few key factors in Nashville’s winning streak, which is the team’s longest since March 2024.

Goalie Justus Annunen turned away 27 of 29 shots, posting a goals-saved-above-expected figure of 2.41 while stifling a Ducks team that had scored at least five goals in each of its previous eight contests.

“[Annunen] was amazing in net,” Preds captain Roman Josi told reporters. “He made some amazing saves. But that’s a good team. They’re fast and they create a lot. We found a way and that’s all that matters.”

The Preds have allowed just 10 goals during the six-game win streak, a 1.67 goals-against average that ranks first in the NHL since Oct. 31.

Juuse Saros is 3-0 during the streak, with a .976 save percentage, 0.67 goals against average and one shutout. Annunen is also 3-0 during the streak, with a .909 save percentage and 2.57 goals against average.

Chris MacFarland

Chris MacFarland is the Nashville Scene’s 2026 Writers’ Choice for Best Executive Hire in Nashville for bringing a winning resume.

It’s been a bounce-back year thus far for Saros, who last season finished with an .894 save percentage and 3.16 goals against average, the worst numbers of his career. This season, Saros (6-3, .918 save percentage, 2.42 goals against average) has a goals saved above expected figure of 9.3, which ranks fourth in the NHL, per MoneyPuck.com.

The Preds’ win over Anaheim also showed off the team’s penalty kill, which held the Ducks — who have the league’s best power play (36.8 percent) — without a goal on three attempts. Nashville has killed 14 of 15 power plays during the six-game win streak, and the Predators’ 89.5 percent penalty-kill rate this season ranks second in the league.

Offensively, the Predators are not a high-scoring outfit, as the team’s average of 3.05 goals per game ranks tied for 17th. But as evidenced by the win against Anaheim, the Preds are compensating for modest scoring with a blend of their established veterans and contributions from newcomers.

It was Steven Stamkos who sealed the victory over the Ducks, scoring his team-leading 11th goal of the season to account for the final margin with not quite four minutes remaining in the contest.

Josi produced two assists, giving him 801 career points. He is just the fifth defenseman born outside North America to top the 800-point mark.

“I think I’m just grateful to play for this organization for so long,” Josi said.

“Just had some amazing teammates, and obviously a lot of fun getting a milestone when you get a win like that in back-to-back [contests].”

The game also featured three points from center Shane Wright (one goal, two assists), two points from forward Nils Hoglander (one spectacular goal, one assist) and two points from defenseman Jayden Struble (one goal, one assist) — all of whom were acquired by Nashville general manager Chris MacFarland, in his first season with the organization, since the end of the 2025-26 campaign.

The Preds will put their six-game win streak on the line Friday in Las Vegas, the third of five straight contests on the road.

“Our mindset — and we’ve talked about this the whole time — is try to win the week and not look in the rearview mirror,” Brunette said.

“We’re going [windshield]. We’ve got another big game in Vegas. We’re happy to get these points, but we believe our team has a lot more in us.”

This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.